Art After School

VisArts has a long, positive partnership with Richmond City Public Schools and is excited to be involved in a new middle-school enrichment initiative with Communities in Schools beginning this fall.  Serving as vehicles for our outreach programs, Art After School classes reach more than 570 youth each year in hands-on studio classes in all types of visual and literary arts. Through our custom art-after-school curricula that strengthen and support lessons in science, math, history and English, students work with artists to discover that art makes new connections and enriches their understanding of these subjects. VisArts partners with our neighborhood middle schools — Binford Model Middle School and Albert Hill Middle School — as well as our community organization neighbors — Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond and the William Byrd Community House. Artist instructors from VisArts will also bring their talents to support Higher Achievement, another new middle school initiative that provides opportunities for mentoring and enrichment classes to 120 students at Henderson and Boushall Middle Schools.

Space of Her Own (SOHO)

This fall, VisArts launches our fourth year of SOHO girls and mentors! SOHO is a collaborative partnership between VisArts, Friends Association for Children and ART 180 that brings together 12 pre-teen girls from the Gilpin Court neighborhood and 12 volunteer women from our community who serve as mentors throughout the school-year program (September 2011 – May 2012). Each week, after sharing a healthy dinner, artists lead activities and workshops that allow young women to create a “space of her own” from the inside out. Through art-making and a supportive community, SOHO raises hope and self-awareness by exploring individual strengths that open up new possibilities and choices of how to participate and be productive in life. Using the artwork that the teams create throughout the year, SOHO culminates in a bedroom makeover for each girl in the program. SOHO utilizes a leadership and life-skills curricula designed by BOUNCE and follows the National Mentoring Partnerhship’s model program guidelines.

Studio S: Senior Programs

Studio S morning classes utilize memories of youth, ignite imagination, and provide seniors with opportunities to explore and share ideas in an inviting, supportive atmosphere. Projects are designed to encourage experimentation with color, pattern, tools and textures. Participants will enjoy a guided tour of exhibitions in our gallery which foster discussions about how art is made and how broad ideas are translated into materials and techniques. Classes are open to students age 65 and up. Our Studio S program offers a series of visual and literary arts classes designed to enrich minds, bodies and spirits of seniors in our community. Thanks in part to a generous donation by Wells Fargo, Studio S classes are offered to our senior students at a deep discount.

Questions?

Sally Kemp, Director of Community Outreach, sallykemp@visarts.org (804) 353-0094 ex 223